


Taste

by Bannerific (Nellethiel)



Series: Of Science and Soldiers - 100 One-Shots [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012), The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Genre: M/M, One Shot, Pre-Slash, Science Boyfriends, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-30
Updated: 2013-01-30
Packaged: 2017-11-27 12:12:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/661875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nellethiel/pseuds/Bannerific
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony attempts an experiment, in hopes of impressing a certain someone for Valentine's.  It goes horribly wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taste

**Author's Note:**

> Translation into Português available: [Gosto](http://archiveofourown.org/works/992820) by [Rosetta (Melime)](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Rosetta)

The walls of the room suddenly quaked. Ceiling and floor alike were spattered with crimson as the acrid smell of burning plastic and metal filled the air. The tool in the man's hand clattered to the floor, sounds of despair pouring from his mouth as he collapsed to his knees, defeated.

"Tony? My God! What happened?" The voice of Pepper Potts reflected her concern as she came skidding into the room and took in the scene before her.

"I failed, Pepper," Tony Stark groaned from his spot on the floor. All around him lay the remnants of his experiment, gone horribly wrong. The hem of his shirt was singed, and black marks were streaked across his face. "I took it too far, like I always do, and this time I really fucked it up."

Pepper was speechless for several moments, various emotions at war on her face as she struggled to phrase her next question. Though he didn't seem seriously hurt, Tony was obviously in a very fragile place at this particular moment, and she knew she would have to proceed cautiously.

"Tony..." she began, then paused thoughtfully, before swallowing hard and plunging recklessly forward. "Tony, how the hell did you manage to screw up this bad... baking a cake? From a _from a mix?_ "

Tony glared morosely at her, picking himself up off the floor and wiping batter from his cheek. "You have no idea," he told her seriously, snatching up his fallen wooden spoon and tossing it unceremoniously into the sink. "Do you have any idea how vague the directions are on those packages?"

Pepper rolled her eyes, bending to help pick up pieces of what once had been a mixer. "And the world's smartest billionaire was outsmarted by Betty Crocker?"

"Pepper, have you _read_ them? 'Fold in eggs'? What does that even mean? You can't fold a liquid, last I checked. They want you to grease your cake pan, but _with what_? And then they say to run the mixer at medium speed, high speed, light speed, whatever. My mixer doesn't have a 'medium' switch. It has a 1-10 speed setting. Where do you draw the line between medium and high? Screw clean energy, the next thing Stark Enterprises is working on is a line of efficient, user-friendly kitchen appliances!"

To punctuate his statement, Tony made a great show of dumping the entire mixer, or what was left of it, into the garbage can in one armful. He probably could have fixed it, or even improved it, but he was so irritated at it that he just wanted it to go away.

Pepper was careful to conceal her laughter as she took a broom down from a rack on the wall. _But how were they going to get the batter off the ceiling?_ Tony interrupted her pondering, taking the broom from her hand.

"Never mind that," he said. "I'll have Dummy take care of this mess. But I need to change before Bruce sees."

And suddenly, Pepper understood. Tony had sent her a text the day before, asking her what she would do for a guy she liked, but wasn't yet dating, for Valentine's Day. She had told him something like, "food or a tie, depending on the man," then dismissed the conversation and moved on with her day. This cake was obviously what Tony had come up with. She was fairly sure she knew who the intended recipient was, too, but she was content to let Tony tell her if he felt like it.

"Bruce, huh?" She said casually, following Tony out into the hall. "Was he who the cake was for?"

"He said red velvet was his favourite," Tony replied, and Pepper was surprised to hear the catch in his voice. "The guy deserves something sweet in his life, for once." And again, Pepper understood. That was definitely true.

"Tell you what," Pepper said, in the comforting tone she reserved especially for her boss. "I'll make a run to the bakery and have them make one, okay?"

"Sure," Tony agreed, the casualness in his voice too forced. "Have them write something nice on it." And with that, he turned down one hallway, and she turned down another, her eyes welling a little bit as she considered the idea that this relationship might just be a thing.

As Tony walked, his mind was drawing diagrams. He had just come up with the ideal design for a brand spanking new type of mixer when he collided with someone coming around a corner. It was Bruce. And naturally, Bruce apologized.

"What are you apologizing for?" Tony asked, as this wasn't the first time Bruce had apologized for something that was clearly the fault of someone else. "I wasn't paying attention." And then he realized Bruce was staring at him. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. The playboy in him was dying to say, "See something you like?" But the genius part of him thought that was probably the stupidest thing he _could_ say.

"What are you covered in?" Bruce asked, leaning in to examine the red splotches all over Tony's shirt, before realizing that his front was also now spotted. "You can't have come from the lab, I was just there..." He trailed off, then thoughtfully ran a finger through a particularly large dollop that had landed on Tony's shoulder. He smelled it cautiously, then promptly stuck his finger in his mouth.

"This tastes like cake!"


End file.
